Wick
by Darkwick
Summary: The loosely woven chord that brings the fuel up to the flame. Whoever chose that nickname for her, they chose well. The universe births another girl, only to send her on a strange quest for her soul. There's always a cliché, though—a catch. [KilluaxOC]
1. Chapter 1

She's incomplete. She'll never make it. Her soul is split into _thousands_. She's insufficient. She's weak. She's helpless. This struggle is useless...

Though we all came together for the second time since our creation, though we all scoured every corner of every universe for as many of the dying pieces as possible, what we have done so far is still _not enough_.

The New Soul is dying. An egg fractured in the womb will not survive a premature birth. We can create as many mortal bodies for her as possible, but it's seeming _futile_by now—she is going to fade. There are too many pieces. Her spirit, fallen every which way, will cease. There is only so much we can do in interference.

It just cannot be so? It cannot be as impossible as we think it is? There must be something we can do to prolong her existence. If she's incomplete, then we must make her complete. But how?

A question that even puzzles _them_.

**Chapter 1**

"We're dying." She bluntly stated, though it was unnecessary. Her glimmering emerald eyes spoke the volumes of emotion that her voice didn't show.

Two girls sat in a forest. The sky was bright and beautifully clear this morning, but it was obscured almost completely by the dense treetops.They stared out into the woods at nothing in particular. Neither girl made a sound; the only sound was of the wind that flew rampant through the grove, howling sorrowfully around them and smothering them with whorls of leaves. They grasped each other's hand tightly, as if letting go would kill them both. Not one word was spoken for a while.

After all, communicating in words was unnecessary, as they were both two sides of the same person. They understood this and accepted it. It didn't at all upset them as it could, because they felt complete when they were together. There was a deep understanding there that was different from the understanding of a close friend… Not more or less than, but different.

It soon became noon. They were hungry, but they were feeling the fruitlessness of any attempts to prolong their suffering. They could feel the time approaching, the time they would cease to be. Heaven burdened them with the knowledge of everything about their own mind, body, and soul. So, they knew about their fractured soul, that beings so extraordinary were on their side, trying to save their... life. This was why they understood each other so well, why they found each other familiar, and why they could sense where each other was.

The girls also knew that unless the omnipotent beings and themselves figured out something to do to possibly save their mortal _soul_ with all this omniscience in self, they would not last long. This train of thought made them sad and desperate. All they could do to comfort each other was hug each other tightly as they cried. They were only four years old, after all. Kids cry.

They cried and hugged as they felt the pain of their aura collapsing and draining into the atmosphere.

-

"Mama!"

A girl and her waterfall under a bright blue sky. A toddler wrapped in the arms of her loving parent, hoping to find comfort.

"You know you're not supposed to be moving around when you're sick! Let's get you back in bed... What's wrong, my ever-cute Luna-tot? Cheer up! ... Why are you crying?"

A beautiful voice that usually soothes the child, but... things are different now.

"M-ma-mama..."

A small voice embraced by a strong one.

"Luna... Luna, baby, what's wrong!? Luna! Luna!!"

A mother.

-

Hal Wickerson did not know what to do with his daughter. She was only six years old, and she had some strange disease. After spending tens of thousands of Jeni on hiring doctors and specialists who hopefully had a cure, they all failed. Feeling helpless and desperate, he could only think of one other possibility.

Hal, though not at all physically strong and never having been anything exceptional in academic smarts, did have a different kind of smart and strength about him. With his notable cunning, a large list of contacts, money, and with the nature of his employment as well, he ended up eventually learning about something called aura. That was something doctors didn't normally check. Hal had convinced himself that this was surely what was wrong. Her aura, her spirit, could be what's been in trouble. Though it was possibly another waste of money and time, it was something.

So daddy dearest here had put out a request for a hunter that could check his little girl's aura and cure her if possible. The gratification was a wealthy sum, and was negotiable. The response, predictably, became quite numerous. He had his doubts about the majority of these people, though. Perusing his contacts list, he called up a favour. The man he was calling a favour upon was dangerous to deal with, but Hal was sure that his efforts would pay off eventually.

After all, she was his only offspring, since his wife had died. His daughter... was the only precious person he had left. Though she had become very weak in recent years, she had a personality of which made him proud. She was kind, looked like her mother, but resembled him in the personality department. She walked the same wobbly line, metaphorically speaking.

In any case, this dangerous favour would help him pick the best candidate(s) for this type of job.

-

"Sir, your daughter's aura is fluctuating. The reason for her dizzy spells is that at those times she has expelled way too much aura, exhausting herself. Since she can't and doesn't know how to control her aura, this takes a toll on her body." The old hunter paused here, thinking about how to phrase this so he could understand.

Interpreting his ensuing silence as uncertainty, Mr. Wickerson responded in an insipid and sarcastic tone, "That's great. Now how do we fix it?"

The elderly man posing as their hunter today composed himself, and continued firmly. "An aura exudes from the person. Her aura isn't what is causing her problems. It is your daughter, herself—" At seeing Hal's scathing indignant look, the man continued hurriedly but managed to not sound alarmed, "Her soul, I suspect."

Mr. Wickerson managed to keep most of the skepticism out of his voice as he slowly reiterated the hunter's last four words. Then he asked the question the old man was well expecting.

"So how can my daughter be cured?"

"Here's the tricky part: I know how her life can be prolonged, but to cure her... You will need help from the Gods themselves. Luckily, however, I have an old friend that may be able to help."

-

That is when They had an idea. It was risky, but it might just work. First, They had to find the biggest soul piece in that universe, and send the chosen away for training. At a sufficient level, the rescue plan would commence. Then They would need to give Their Chosen a means to find the others, or else They'd have to pick through all the soul specks... Their meddling could only go so far, but after all...

One of Their Own did cause her state of being.

-

Boredom pushes many to do almost anything to possibly get rid of it. Nervousness leads many into insanity. Curiosity tempts many into spying, and testing dangerous waters. As an enthusiastic writer, and as an amateur composer of music, mixing the habits derived from practising these traits daily and the three aforementioned states can make... something that can be potentially deadly... for a young woman's sake, or someone else's.

"My mommy went pale on a December's day,  
Her cheeks so soft, but face so cold.  
Her song used to drive the Devils away  
like she cut off their tails with the tales she told.

Her eyes, once so glittering like snow, went stark.  
I frolicked no more, but froze in its parts.  
Expression so bright all of a sudden went dark.  
Twas then I learnt how a soul departs.

My daddy went red on a July's morn'.  
His cheeks were rough but eyes so soft.  
I never once learnt what had him sworn  
to protect a daughter so distant and aloft.

His eyes, they once were determined and set,  
they guarded me closely in the mask of a fox,  
but left thence the haggard femme and I met.  
And with dust in my eyes, and rain in my locks,  
nothing would mend. All she said was

'The en—"

"'Ey! 'Ey you! Shut up, 'kay? We don' need no fragile lil' girls 'round here, so why don't you either be quiet or—**look at me when I'm talking to you, girl!"**

A harsh baritone voice sounded suddenly, emitting through clenched teeth from the back of his throat, standing—actually walking in a rather quick and pissed off manner toward her position near the wall—indicative of a tall man, a bit _too_ irritable to _not be_ nervous, maybe a rookie (if you take into consideration the course of action he chose), annoying…

_I thought I was quiet_, she thought. _Boredom makes everyone lose a little control, I guess._

She opened her eyes tiredly, though her laziness might have pissed the man off more. In either case, she did not seem very affected by the tone he had. Breathing in slowly, as if she were about to pull off a very laborious task, she...

"Sorry."

... apologized. She _had_ bothered the man evidently, after all. It was said in a manner that proclaimed clearly of indifference. Nonchalant. Apparently, he was taken aback for a second. Perhaps he was expecting indignation, anger, or fear, but what he got was a _nothing_ in the form of a 'sorry'. She stared straight at him with unblinking green eyes as she had said it, too. That can put off a few people, sometimes. Really, she hoped he would just accept the damn apology and move on.

"Wha-?" He quickly gathered his composure, and his new stance screamed a superior air. "What are you doing here? This place isn't for little girls!"

She exhaled slowly, seemingly still tired but starting to look a little irritated. She wouldn't mind smashing his head into a wall, but she wouldn't, for numerous reasons. One, she wanted to conserve energy. They would most likely test endurance again, something she wasn't good at, so she needed to conserve energy. Two, she didn't want to gather the wrong kind of attention, being people stronger and creepier than her. Three... She couldn't think of a third. Anyway, the point is, this little confrontation was starting to gather a crowd, and she hated being the center of attention—oh yeah, that was the third reason.

_This place isn't for little girls!_

Not exactly thinking straight, she shot back, maybe a little too loudly, "You're right! Absolutely. Maybe you should leave." She tiredly rubbed her eyes, and proceeded to ignore him.

She only realized just how audible she was after people started chuckling. She inwardly groaned. There goes her subtle presence! Now just about everyone has noticed her. (In her perspective, she would say _that_ because of nervousness, even though it's not true.)

"**What did you say?"** He growled, and she suddenly found him in her face. His hands moved to slam her shoulders into the wall she had been leaning against. Someone yelled in pain, but he found it to be his own voice. "Argh! Damn it, that hurt! What the hell—where'd she go?"

As the man rubbed his hands sorely in anger, the _little girl_ was hidden behind the crowd safely out of view... Whew.

"What happened to watching how much energy I expend?" She whispered to herself in frustration, as she dusted the dirt off her navy-blue knee-length dress. _This place would be filthy, considering how far down it is_.

Looking around where she now stood carefully, someone uncommon caught her eye... She didn't normally see any boys her age in here. She got the notion that he wasn't simply above average, either. He was standing a friendly distance next to an older blond and an even taller brown-haired male in a suit... Ah, then she spotted another young person somewhere in the crowd.

Suddenly, she froze. Her eyes stared across the room directly into a strange white-haired boy's dark eyes. _Woops, maybe he saw me move._ A creepy tingle went down her spine as they both held the gaze. It was broken as another exam participant walked between them. She made sure to shift her position to hide herself in the mass of people. There always was a large amount of people. But there would be no worries. Having taken the test a few times before, she knew that a lot of them would end up dropping out or dying.

A sharp ringing sound cut through all the noise cleanly. The first test would begin.

-

He had seen another kid like Gon, here. The kid was actually a girl, yet somewhat piqued his curiosity at least. At first he subtly looked for her while they ran, but as soon as he caught glimpses of her strange black and bright green(only at the tips) locks, or her narrowed emerald eyes, she weaved through the crowd further up ahead and away from him.

"Ne, Killua! Who are you looking for?"

Ah, so Gon noticed. Well, after a while his subtle approach should have been found out, if Gon was as attentive as he thought he'd be. Oh well.

"A weird girl our age. Black and green chin-length hair, green eyes, dark blue dress? She keeps going somewhere out of sight."

Gon looked interested, too. "Another person our age? I think I noticed her, too. She's probably moving to be at the front."

Killua nodded. "Yeah. I thought so, too."

Both nodding in agreement, they sped up. Gradually, but fairly quickly, they'd make their way to the front. They were climbing stairs now. The crowd was beginning to thin more, so it'd be easier to spot her. Soon she'd have nowhere to hide unless she wanted to quit.

She realized this, too, but she couldn't help but avoid them. Who knew what their motives were? See, this was the exact kind of thing she was trying to avoid! She didn't want to attract attention. It caused a lot of problems. Staying out of the majority of people's minds gives her the advantage she needs—anonymity. With that, she'd be able to keep any of her fighting moves/traits from being expected. Sure, she was fast, but the price was paid in strength. Plus, with her... disease of sorts, it somewhat limited her as well. Grasping at straws, here! Though, she wasn't doing too bad right then, mostly because she previously had some help from her special shoes... She was sweating a _bit_, but she'd prepared for this exam with _years_ of training... As long as her emotions stayed relatively_calm_...

**"Konnichiwa!"**

Her eyes uncharacteristically widened all the way while her mouth froze in an 'O' shape. (A/N: OoO basically, ha.) Her foot missed the step she was going for, but she caught up to where she was again easily without falling behind too much. The boys she had spotted before the exam's start... were... on either side of her! So they had met? When did they get there!? Damn that's shocking! _I slipped up! I should have sensed them coming! _She thought, irritable from being surprised. _Fuck. Don't __do__that!_ But she wasn't a mean person (usually), and she didn't _want_ enemies...

She shook her head, and held a hand over her heart as she replied slowly, "Hello." Not very expressive. Still shocked, as her heartbeat confirmed.

Okay, so what did these two boys want? Well, they weren't really sure. Their curiosity had led them here to investigate her, but... Well, how would they start a conversation? Gon decided to start by introducing themselves.

"Sorry for surprising you. I'm Gon!" And the said boy raised his hand in greeting, along with a polite smile.

She nodded to him and then stared at Killua, and he easily said, "Killua."

Her expressionless gaze lingered on him for another miniscule moment, but quickly then gave way to a sheepish smile in return. "Litia—friends call me Wicky." Her tone implied she preferred the latter name. "Nice to meet you two."

The girl we now know as Wicky decided to say something more. If they would know each other, might as well delve... "You made it to the front pretty fast." She stated airily, as if her attention was consumed with something else. And despite her lacking endurance, the running _wasn't_ distracting, rather this was the way she talked habitually. (So to be blunt, she acts like an airhead at times.)

"The pace isn't very fast." Killua explained. "In fact, not moving the fastest way is more tiring."

Wicky hummed, inventively musical,in thought. "Perhaps? I never really thought of it that way." She took a deep breath and exhaled, clearing her mind a bit for focus.

Gon stared inquisitively at Killua, thinking that his new white-haired friend must be strong to not have broken out into a sweat like everyone else. Even he himself was sweating a bit, though that wasn't indicative that he was going to retire anytime today, he still was sweating.

"The Hunter's exam seems boring so far." He said, a tinge of mock disappointment in his voice. "Not very fun."

Wicky almost stumbled, but caught herself in time._Fun? Why would he expect it to be fun?_

Gon asked him, "Why do you want to be a hunter, Killua?"

"I don't really want to be a hunter. I heard it was difficult, and thought it sounded interesting. I'm disappointed. How about you, Gon?"

"My father is a hunter, so my goal's to be a hunter just like him!"

"Your father... What kind of hunter is he?" Killua enquired.

"I don't know."

Wicky and Killua simply stared at him for a moment in shock. Wouldn't you be? Gon explained more about what he knew about his father, and a man by the name of Kaito. Before they knew it, the exit was spotted and everyone sprinted the last few meters. It was a convenient escape to answering the question that would possibly be asked to Wicky. Hmm... Sort of suspicious, eh? But if the two boys realized this, they didn't say anything. The instructor of this section of the exam was speaking, anyway.

-

They had gotten separated during another marathon through a dangerous marshland, but met up again for the next test. Killua made it there first. Wicky trickled in near the end of the group, looking obviously tired—well, more than usual. After working her legs slowly to loosen the muscles, she walked up to greet Killua, wiping the sweat off her forehead and neck with a handkerchief. She had given up trying to avoid them after they all had introduced themselves. She wasn't that stubborn at all, really.

"Hey, Killua." She uttered, sighing in relief.

"Hey." He acknowledged her with a glance, and commented, "You look tired already." _Not avoiding us anymore, are you?_

"Yeah, my endurance isn't good. It was annoying, avoiding all the man-eating monsters." She quickly changed topic by asking, "Wasn't Gon with you?" By now she looked fine, so she put away the handkerchief.

He exhaled noisily, putting his hands in his pockets, seemingly apathetic. "I don't know! He went back to help Leorio. I kept going."

_Who is Leorio?_ She thought, but didn't ask and simply said, "I see."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly over her normal lazy eyes, which admitted a bit of worry and doubt. "It'll take something special to make it here without a guide."

Killua didn't show outward concern, but he did reply, "Yeah. Hope he has something up his sleeve." Though, it was still said without a sign of real concern. She nodded in agreement, anyway.

They both searched the crowd around them with their eyes, but both already knew Gon wasn't there, so they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Well, it wasn't _that much_ of an awkward silence until Gon came barging into the area alongside the blond man from before the test. _Surprise, surprise!_ She thought gaily, before remembering to tune it down. _Can't afford to get too emotional now, can't I?_ Wicky trailed behind Killua as they made their way to Gon past the crowd. _I'd like to get to know them more before we split ways (after the exam). They're interesting..._ Gon and the older blond were leaning over and talking to the brown haired man she had seen earlier wearing a suit.

"Why is everyone waiting outside the hangar?" Gon questioned.

Killua made his presence known, answering, "Because we can't get in yet!"

"Killua! Wicky!"

Leorio and Kurapika both asked confusedly at the same time, "Wicky?"

Glancing curiously at the two strangers briefly, Wicky stepped forward and raised her hand in greeting to Gon. "Hey, Gon! Almost worried that you wouldn't make it here!"

"You use some kind of special attack, or what? We thought we'd never see you again!" Killua said in a slight teasing manner, though obviously pleased that Gon had arrived alive.

Gon proceeded to explain how he got into trouble and found his way back because of following the scent...

"Of his _aftershave?"_ Killua reiterated in disbelief.

Wicky had a hand clasped over her mouth to stifle the trickle of laughter at the aftershave fact, and when she uncovered it she complimented Gon, "I've never heard of that before. _Amazing!"_ She smiled contently.

Killua noted a difference in the smile she gave now compared to the polite one when they met. _Not too much, actually. Seems more relaxed._

"Yeah Gon, you're not an ordinary guy!"

"Ah, you think so?" His wide eyes projected thoughtfulness as he said this.

At Wicky's prompting, Gon belatedly introduced Wicky to Kurapika and Leorio. The polite smile came back, leaving Killua something to think about in his spare time.

_Something's... off... about her. Suspicious..._

-

The first phase of the second trial of the exam was easy. Roast pork for Buhara. It was the second part that was difficult. The second part, the instructor Menchi asked for Sushi. Mostly everyone was stunned. After thinking hard, Wicky could remember vaguely what Sushi was. Her father, due to his profession, made a lot of business trips. Sometimes he took her along. He once introduced her to Sushi... It was small and cylindrical, if she could remember correctly. She knew it had fish in it, because that ninja guy said so. So, she knew it was cylindrical, small, had fish, and had rice. If she could get all those ingredients, she may be able to scrounge a tolerant Sushi to pass.

Unfortunately, even though Wicky got the shape right, the taste was not exactly... it was honestly horrible, according to Menchi. She didn't argue. The fact was Wicky didn't cook. That, and she had waited a bit too long to hand over her Sushi, when everyone had ended up somehow insulting Menchi's culinary skills. Wicky should have known better, if she wanted to be a hunter. At least, that's what she told herself to soothe her wounded pride.

Then, the situation became worse. Menchi became full. Her verdict was: 0 passed.

Then, things became strange. As the participants stood stubbornly unmoving outside, an old man fell from an airship in the sky. Wicky was probably one of the few present who knew how it was humanly possible for the senior to do that.

-

"I'm so glad we're not going to fail..." Wicky sighed in relief after the elderly president of the committee dismissed them until their destination. "I've never been failed so early..."

"You've taken this exam before, Wicky?" Gon enquired curiously.

The girl's strangely-coloured hair fell into her face as she nodded once sharply, effectively ruining the serious look she was going for. She blew the black-green locks out of her face irritably, and said, "I've taken this exam twice before. Last year, and three years ago."

"How old are you now?" Killua asked.

"13. And you?"

"I'm 13, too."

"Gon?"

"Almost 13."

All of a sudden Gon started, which startled the other two, as he remembered something. "Wicky! You never told us why you want to become a hunter!"

Wicky froze for the smallest of moments, but was soon smiling sheepishly and waving a hand dismissively at him. "My reason's not that interesting... It's boring, _trust_ me."

"Aw, c'mon! Wicky-chan!"

Killua pointed at himself and then at Gon, looking at her with an expression of amusement that challenged her. "We told you our reasons! It's only fair, don't you think?"

"Well, you see," She cleared her throat. "It's sort of... complicated." Wicky gave a short embarrassed laugh.

There was silence, and the two boys simply waited for her to continue. Sweat dropping, she drudged on, not wanting to be rude. She took a deep breath, and said in an offhand manner...

"I'm—eh—dying. Hunters are given access to all sorts of privileged information, as well as other stuff... I'm going to use it to find the people connected to what's killing me." Then suddenly added cheerfully, "Plus, dad said being a hunter would've been his second choice for a job! I want to make him proud!"

There was a stunned silence after she finished, which was broken after they regained their wits, by Gon saying in a concerned voice, "You're going to die?"

Wicky looked straight at them both, looking neither worried nor embarrassed anymore, and she nodded in affirmation. "As long as I am aware of how I am feeling, I won't rush my death any more than it is."

_My sixth sense tells me that the sentence implies some other meaning as well._ Killua narrowed his eyes slightly in thought as he looked her over. "You don't look like you're dying... Unlike most of the other people you made it all the way through the endurance test—" He stopped. "How'd you do that?"

One of Wicky's eyebrows rose as she saw that Killua was beginning to piece things together. _He's suspicious, too. Better be careful around that one._ "My shoes double as roller skates."

Looking downwards to her grey shoes, Wicky brought her right shoe's heel down in front of her left shoe, and tapped them together like that. Her height boosted a few centimetres (about an inch) as the wheels swiftly popped out at the bottom of both her shoes.

She explained. "At the beginning, I used this to conserve energy, until we got to climbing stairs."

Gon, who was looking lost between the two, spoke up, "If you're dying, why are you..."

"... becoming a hunter if I'm dying?" Wicky looked offended, but her content smile afterwards showed she didn't blame him for the thought, "This isn't the kind of ailment you can relieve the symptoms of by resting up and taking it easy. It's more mental than anything." _Not exactly the whole truth, but from the looks of things, they don't know anything about Aura._

They would've asked more about what she meant, but they were interrupted. They had arrived. Short trip, after all.

-

"And finally, you have to boil the egg!" Menchi concluded, smiling.

"Ah, cool!" Killua said, smiling.

"I was waiting for something like this!" Gon yelled enthusiastically.

"That's more like it! It's easier to take action than to do some traditional cooking!" Leorio yelled.

"Yeah, I stink at cooking." Wicky lamely added, but was the only first female to jump with the first four males into a dangerously deep ravine.

"Let's go!"

This test went pretty easily, despite the danger. Get the Tarantula eagle's egg, climb out, and boil it. Because of Buhara, mostly everyone who had gotten an egg got a clue to when to pull out their egg. Tasting their eggs, they found it was the most tastiest egg they'd ever tasted. It put everyone who caught an egg in a very good mood, considering they tasted the most delicious egg they'd ever consumed and they passed the trial as well. Menchi's verdict: 42 passed.

-

"We should arrive tomorrow at around eight at the next trial's destination. We are waiting for them to contact us. You are free to do whatever you want until we arrive."

"Anything we want? Huzzah." Wicky cheered in her deceptively lazy way: as she leaned against something with her eyes not quite fully open.

Leorio, Kurapika, Wicky, Gon, and Killua were all a friendly distance from each other, still in good moods since the end of the latest trial. They had time to kill. Energy to burn. Things to see... Speaking of which,

"Hey Gon, how about a tour of the vessel?!" Killua asked Gon enthusiastically.

"Yeah!!" Gon yelled as he prepared to walk off, but then paused, remembering something, and added with just a little less volume, "Do you want to come along, Wicky?"

Killua turned curiously, waiting for her answer. He didn't seem to mind, but Wicky found herself feeling nervous for some reason. Killua, meanwhile, wondered why she seemed uncomfortable interacting with them.

Wicky smiled apologetically. "I'd like to, but I'm actually pretty hungry and thirsty. I wonder if they have someplace with food?" She inwardly cursed her cowardice.

Gon looked somewhat put out—not enough to completely rid him of his good mood, but he looked disappointed nonetheless.

Killua walked up to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and smoothly steering her in the direction that he as well as Gon had started walking in. "We'll find a place. Let's go!"

"Alright. I'm in." Her lazy eyes looked more awake when they shone in amusement, and admittedly enthusiasm as well for being included. The kids bounded off in some direction, leaving Kurapika and Leorio to their own devices, which did not include burning off energy or seeing various rooms in the aircraft.

"Me, I think I'm going to take a good, long nap." Leorio muttered tiredly.

Kurapika agreed. "Me too. Today has been rather long."

After a while of exploring with the three kids... Killua, Gon, and Wicky had found a place with food—a kitchen, more or less. Showing an ability to negotiate, she had swindled the boys and herself some fruit and glasses of juice (because it's healthy, instead of soda) for free. Actually, Wicky had stolen some kind of fruit-flavoured wine for herself. God only knows how! (A/N: Cough. Cough.) No one—that would snitch—seemed to notice, so it was all good. They were now sitting at a bench in a hallway, staring out of the window absently. They had long ago finished their juice and fruit, dishes out of sight.

Wicky reflected on the conversation they had after getting them all food and drinks.

Gon had leaned over and sniffed her cup. "There's something wrong with your juice, Wicky!" Gon had told her.

Killua had drunk a portion of his juice. "Mine's fine. Gon?"

Right then, Wicky had giggled—not looking innocent in the least—and had taken a sip of her cup. "It's fine." She had licked her lips, seeming pleased. "Don't worry. Your glasses should be fine. Do you like your juice?"

"But what if it's poisoned or something?" Gon had ignored her question, sensing something was going on.

Killua, having his suspicions, had snatched the glass neatly out of her hands. Ignoring her protest, he had proceeded to take a sip from her cup. His eyes had widened comically as he recognized the taste. He had been tempted to spit back into the glass, but Wicky had snatched back her glass. He had been forced to gulp it down.

"Hey! Wicky, you—"

She had leaned toward them and whispered roughly, "I've been drinking for years! I can handle just a glass!"

Gon had gasped then, realizing what had conspired. "Wicky! You're underage!" He had whispered back.

"What? If I can handle it, and no one tells, who cares?"

"But we're in the middle of an exam! Won't it be bad if you get drunk?" Killua had asked, reasoning with her.

"It_would_ be bad if I became drunk." She had agreed quickly, and had paused dramatically before adding, "But I've built up a resistance, so—!" She had stuck out her tongue at them playfully, before continuing to drink her glass. It hadn't been really big, so she had ended up taking the rest in one shot. A pleased sound had ensued.

They had just stared, stunned. When she had started giving them a deceptively innocent smile, they had decided to just drink their damn juice and be happy.

Wicky was interrupted from her memory by Gon commenting, "Great!" A raised eyebrow from Wicky. He continued, still looking out the window, "It looks like a diamond!"

She glanced out at the city, humming positively in agreement. "Pretty." There was more silence.

"Killua...?"

The white-haired boy in question looked toward Gon. "Yes?"

"Have you got parents?"

"Huh? Yeah! Of course."

"What do they do?" Gon enquired.

"Assassins." He replied shortly.

Wicky didn't look too surprised, and not disturbed at all. _I was expecting something like that. I suspected that he must have had some unique past for him to want to come here._ She looked at Killua curiously, but didn't say anything. Gon looked to want to say something, though.

Completely unperturbed and undisturbed, Gon questioned, "Both of them?"

All eyes stared at Gon. _He can't be serious?_ That was the thought on Killua's mind as he burst out laughing, while the only girl among them smirked in amusement.

"That's the first time someone's listened to me seriously and asked me that afterwards!"

"But it's true, isn't it?" Wicky asked, feeling left out.

"What makes you say that?"

"Gon's thinking it. But if I were to say... it's because I could feel you were serious." Her finger tapped her lips thoughtfully. Nod. Nod.

Killua and Gon were a little bit disturbed by her perception of their emotions. "Female intuition." She stated, as if it explained everything. Lie. "It's hard to tell for Gon, but for a second he looked like he was going to ask that. So I did." She shrugged. "I'm right, aren't I?"

_I__**was**__ going to ask that._ Gon turned curiously to Killua, and confirmed this.

Killua paused, thinking about this. "You're both really strange. But you especially, Gon. One can never tell if you're serious or if you're joking. That's what gives you your charm!"

Wicky voiced her agreement at that, and was tempted to say _And I'm just strange_, but she beat the temptation to an inch of its life. She was thinking that she should be offended, but would not take it to heart. Killua was being serious, damn it!

Killua didn't say anything, at first. Then he started talking. "At my place, assassination is a common interest." He rested his chin on his palm, finding a comfortable position. "And I won't say how much pressure my family puts on me, but I don't like others deciding what I will do in life."

_Killua..._

_You're very brave to defy family. I envy you._ Wicky thought.

Gon... it's hard to say what's in that boy's mind right now.

Perhaps it was because he didn't want them to pity him, or because things were getting too serious for his liking, but he finished his 'confession' of sorts in a comical way. "When I told them, 'I will decide what _my_ future will be, by _myself!_' They got all mad... My mother started crying, saying I had a gift in assassination." He mumbled something about only being able to be considered evil under his breath. He summed his story up, somewhat shouting, "Anyway, long story short, I beat up my mom and dad, and ran away:D They probably haven't even healed yet!" He looked as happy as a cat who just caught a mouse. "When I become a hunter, the first thing I'll do is arrest my whole family! I'm certain to get a good reward!"

Gon was grinning, and his sweat dropping, at Killua's comically dramatic way of saying this.

"That sounds like a good plan!" Gon said.

_Hmm..._ Wicky thought. _I feel someone approaching._

"I agree. Go for—"

All of a sudden, they all jumped out of their seats as they felt someone rapidly approaching. As they stared, though, the president of the Hunter's committee Netero walked up behind them, from the opposite direction of the hall. When he enquired on what was going on, they confusedly turned. Gon asked Mr. Netero if he had sensed something coming from the other side of the hall. At the old man's negative reply, Killua hazarded his suspicion...

"You're really fast for your age..."

"Really? I was just walking without haste."

This ticked off Killua, not liking to be made a fool, and especially not for the amusement of an old man. He asked coldly, "What do you want? Got nothing to do until the finals?" Of course, this coldness really confused everyone else except the president.

"No need for such coldness! I'm just looking for someone to play with. It's your first time participating in the Hunter's exam, right? Oh, except you, Litia. Well, how do you all like it?"

"Yeah! It's fun!"

Wicky shrugged. "It's okay. The exam last year was harder."

"Ah, yes, I remember you got injured in the last trial that time, didn't you?" Wicky visibly tensed, which seemed quite disturbing for someone so freaking lazy who drank wine not so long ago. "How are you healing?"

"It's fine." She said carefully, clearly uncomfortable with talking about it. _Why would you even ask that, Netero-san? Why..._

He didn't say anything else to her about that, thankfully.

While this new development about their female companion was quite interesting, this didn't make Killua like the old man any more. On the contrary, it made him more irritable.

"In my opinion, I'm disappointed. The trials were not very challenging." He stared intensely at the old man. "Will we finally start having _fun_ in the following _trials_?"

"Well... You'll see..."

Killua wrapped an arm around each new companion and steered them away. "Come on, let's go... we're wasting time." He muttered. He noticed Wicky hadn't really relaxed. It was like she was back to being the dodgy female they had first seen.

"Wait!" They stopped. "Don't you want to play with me?"

_Huh?_Man, if that _didn't_ sound **tremendously creepy** coming from an old _as hell_ man, then I don't know _what_ the fuck does. Oh right... Hisoka...

"I... have something to do before we arrive... You guys go if you're interested." Wicky's eyes avoided their questioning stares, as she activated the wheels hidden in her shoes and sped away smoothly in the direction they had been going in.

"Hmm? I wonder if it's something I said? Anyway, are you interested? Then follow me!"

Unsure, but still curious, they decided to follow old man Netero to see what he meant.

-

_(This next part you should all know. Get the basketball away from the powerfully disturbed geezer.)_

"Wow. I'm kind of glad Wicky isn't here to see this." Gon mumbled under his breath.

He didn't mean for it to be audible at all, but Killua managed to hear it. He couldn't help but agree. But of course, in front of Mr. Netero, he wouldn't say anything. If he had anything, it was his dignity and pride.

_(Seriously, that _old man _scares me almost as much as _Hisoka  
_Aiiieee... ee;;_  
_"Don't you want to play with me?")_

-

As the heads and body parts dropped to the floor, Killua thought to himself, _**I wanted the ball so badly, I probably would've ended up killing the geezer**_ And then he moodily rounded the corner to the place he was going for, where Kurapika and Leorio should be right now, as well as that dastardly Tompa.

_They're asleep._ Obviously, by the blankets wrapped around their slumbering bodies, they had decided to rest up before they arrived. _Probably in preparation for the next trial._ He glanced at Tompa briefly.

That wasn't the only person asleep, here. Curled up on the floor like a cat next to Kurapika was Wicky. She probably hadn't wanted to sleep next to the snoring Leorio. Her head was resting on a bag—that Killua wondered briefly where she had kept all this time—and her arms were wrapped loosely around her knees. She seemed kind of disturbed for a sleeping person. Her face held an expression that indicated she was indeed having a nightmare. _Perhaps it's because she's cold._ Thinking back, he had heard that cold can cause nightmares. _I could wake her up._ He considered this. _I could find her a blanket nearby..._ Leorio wouldn't notice a missing blanket, right? _Or I could just leave her as is._ A nightmare wouldn't kill her. He was still angry, anyways. It was wise that he stay away from anyone he doesn't mind the company of.

"Zzz... Don' go, don'..." She muttered, before her words slurred into incomprehensibility. She was sleep-talking.

"But then again, she'll get annoying if she keeps doing that." He mumbled to himself.

Killua sighed, walking up to Wicky, and bent down to rouse her from slumber. He whispered as to not wake Kurapika. "Wicky. Wicky. Hey, Wiiickyyy." _She sleeps like the dead! That's it!_ His hand stalled right over her shoulder for a few seconds as he heard her mumble something quietly, then continued to shake her shoulder as he realized it as just more sleep-talk.

Her eyes blearily opened. _Now that looks more natural on her._ She blinked, seeing Killua leaning somewhat over her. Killua stared at her, and realizing she was awake, backed off.

"Killua...?" She questioned sleepily.

Interestingly enough, she didn't sound angry, disturbed, or... anything, really. She must have been really tired.

"Yes?"

She didn't say anything for a minute, as her brain started functioning more normally again. She sat up and stretched her arms and back before relaxing and leaning against the wall beside Kurapika. Her eyes were lazily half-lidded, but she was always doing that, so he figured she was definitely fine and awake.

"Thank you." She told Killua suddenly, hazarding a guess that he woke her up.

"No problem." He murmured. Remembering that he was previously angry, he slumped against the wall beside her, staring moodily at the opposite wall.

_Killua..._

_You're very brave to defy family. I envy you._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Here are the rules: You must get to the bottom of the tower within a 72 hour time limit... _**alive**_!" Hysterically evil laughing ensued. Really! Such loud and evil laughing from such a small, and bald blob of a man...

Wicky blinked. _I'm not as awake as I thought,_ she realized as she pinched her arm. Apparently that wasn't strong enough, and she smacked both cheeks at the same time... a few more times... not too hard. Feeling that, she nodded to herself, and turned to meet Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and L—

They were staring at her curiously. "Is something wrong?" She ventured, confused.

"N-no." They replied, and started to look around, presumably to find a way off the tower.

She shrugged, yawning, and lazily trudged around searching as well. Someone would find something, sooner of later. Despite her lazy appearance, her senses were very much awake and ready to pick up on anything. Now, how fast she would be able to transform what she senses into the explanation she needs...

And indeed, they eventually found something.

"Yeah, which door should we choose?" Gon said, pointed them out.

Leorio had his eyes narrowed skeptically. "Five doors, all close to each other... I don't like this..."

"There are probably some that are traps, as well." Kurapika suggested.

"Yep..."

"As well, the trap doors only work once." Gon mentioned.

Wicky hummed in thought. "Saw some other people go through trap doors, I take it?"

"Yep, and we couldn't go through them afterwards..." Killua explained, "In fact, passing through the trap doors themselves can only be done one by one."

Leorio elaborated for slower... and tired... folks. "That makes sense, since they seem to only be the size of one person."

Wicky, who was still quietly humming (they figured she took a long time to wake up), stopped. "I'm going to jump through one of these ones," She announced, and pointed to the cluster of trap doors, "right now. Promise me you won't take too long getting to the bottom of the tower! Bye nowww"

With that said, she quickly jumped on the trap door without giving anyone a chance to say anything, and it quickly flipped open, dropping her into dark depths. The tile quickly shut behind her.

"Um..." Killua intelligibly sounded, thinking _"she can take care of herself, so don't worry"_ before collecting himself and facing Kurapika and Leorio. "Gon and I already decided to jump through one of those ones, as well."

"Even if it's a trap, there's no regrets. What are you going to do?"

So, eventually, after much JAN KEN PON, and their good-byes, they were ready to jump on their stupid squares.

"1..."

"2..."

"3!!"

And then there was the small slide before their feet landed with large thumps on the ground. Well, a large thump for Leorio's head.

A yelp was heard, and everyone was startled into recognition of the people they had just said goodbye to. Gon and Killua stared at each other, and laughed.

"Leorio... are you alive?" A concerned female voice was heard through their laughter.

All the males looked around to see Wicky, who was sitting awkwardly on her behind, probably from having to dodge an airborn Leorio. A hand of hers was gently probing Leorio's head, as if she were dealing with something explosive. She probably wasn't awake yet, still.

Leorio straightened himself, and looked around. "I'm okay, Wicky. But all the trap doors end up in the same room?"

"No, I think this may be an exception..." She answered quietly, and rubbed at her eyes.

"What a long separation!" Kurapika sarcastically joked to Leorio, who replied, "Oh yes!"

Gon noted, "There doesn't seem to be an exit..."

That's when they all noticed a small raised stone platform in the room with them. On the wall behind it, was a small screen that said:

_Choice of Way by Majority._

_For five candidates: You'll have to reach your goal using the Majority Rule._

Wicky picked up a watch on the stone platform. She blinked, and apparently her brain decided it had been lazy for long enough.

"These watches probably are what we need to go forward." She noted shrewdly. "The buttons... I wonder if they're what they mean by the Majority Rule?"

Killua grinned in her direction. "Finally decided to wake up?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for acting weird. I blame my condition... "

Killua seemed to understand, as he didn't say anything.

Kurapika was about to say something, when a voice cut in. "**This passage contains numerous passages. Each one contains its own crossway. You can only move forward by what the Majority Rules. It's impossible to pass if the choice comes from only one guy or gal. The difficulty is that cooperation is essential. On that note, just fight well!"**

A door then appears out of seemingly nowhere.

Kurapika continued, "What I was going to say is that it is fortunate that we have five people."

Leorio added, "Yeah. Who knows... Everyone might have had already taken a route!"

They went through the door after all voted to enter through it.

The next room was a split pathway. X went left, O went right. Votes: x-1, o-4

"What? Don't we usually go left at these types of things?" Leorio yelled in defence of his pride.

Kurapika explained for himself, "Studies show that most people..." and he said something that completely doesn't concern us right now. Sorry Kurapika. (Some of us sprain our brain/s)

Things went pretty smoothly for a while, and the team managed to have alike minds for the doors they had passed through so far. They all wondered if they were making much progress, and each kept glancing at the watches they had. Other than that, things were pretty quiet and progressive. They eventually came to a very large room tohugh, with a very deep pit in front of them. Elevated in the very deep pit was a platform. It looked almost like an arena... or a chessboard, take your pick.

Killua was the first to notice people directly across them in the room. Alerting the others, they watched as one of the mysterious people took off their cloak. It was a very bulky-muscled bald man with many scars over his body. Seemed like a criminal.

"We are the Jurors for the trial commission! Our mission is to fight you! The fights are one against one, and each one of you only gets to fight once! The order of passage is free! You'll have to reach three victories to proceed! The rules are simple: Everything is allowed, there's no time limit, and the defeat of an opponent is a victory. Tell if you accept this trial or not. O-accept, X-refuse!"

Needless to say, everyone accepted. Now came the more difficult part...

"Okay! I'm the one beginning! Choose who is going to fight now!"

They all discussed it a bit, but no one could really decide, until Wicky piped up and offered herself.

"What?!" Leorio asked incredulously. "Against him!?"

She nodded, seeming unperturbed. "Don't underestimate me. I'll take him, no problem!" She nodded sharply once, eyes partly obscuring by her black-green locks as she did so, but glinting from underneath with a sharp seriousness that was undeniable.

Gon looked troubled, but upon seeing that look agreed quickly. "Alright."

"What?!"

Killua nodded. "Yes. Wicky's a good choice." _She's smart. They'll most likely underestimate her... I've seen what she can do._

Kurapika looked thoughtful. "A good choice. I agree."

"How can you all agree to this? He's... she'll—"

"Don't worry Leorio. I'm serious. He's better off dead than faring against me!" She said nonchalant, combing a hand distractedly through her hair. If she was trying to look serious, she wasn't pulling it off right. _I'll remember to buy a headband to keep the hair out of my face while fighting..._

"Argh!" And he continued to mumble incoherently as she made her way across the gap to the platform.

"_Just a_ stupid little girl?" The bulky man laughed. "Are you all so weak that a little girl is the best you can offer to fight me! You've been sent out on a suicide mission, little girl!"

_Snap!_

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, green eyes glinting eerily from under her dark eyelashes. _I can play that game, too._ "I would have liked to insult you, but your one braincell wouldn't get offended." Her voice had lost its girlishness for a moment, was low and dangerous, and for moment everyone swore she had just aged to her later teen years. Just shock from the fact that she had dared insult him, assuredly. She still was a 13 year old girl, just bating him.

She had a lot of practise with mind games before, considering she's the daughter of Hal Wickerson...

The man was stunned at her insults. She was a 'little girl', after all. Not exactly expected. "What?" He probably wondered if she was insane.

"I said—**Let's fight!** Or do I need to speak in simpler terms for you?!"

"Fine! It's your funeral, stupid girl! I'm not changing my mind about the way in which we fight—a fight to the death!"

"Fine by me!"

"Prepare to die!"

On the sidelines, everyone was wondering what the hell she was thinking, bating him like that.

"Crap! Does that girl have a death wish or something?!" Leorio exclaimed.

In the fight, the first one to move was the older man. His ugly scarred self came barrelling toward her with a tightly winded fist, and without regret let it loose toward her face. Her body leaned a little left to dodge it, and backed up one or two steps. He went to kick her, but she dodged. This continued on for another five minutes, with him mostly attacking and her mostly dodging, all the while with a slew of insults directed at him. Her companions' sweat dropped as they watched her smirk wickedly and practically fly around him in circles. He was getting frustrated. He had been seemingly everywhere around the arena. She hadn't attacked once!

Noticing she had the ability to end this at any time by now, Killua yelled to her, "Wicky! We're losing time!"

After nodding to her companion, Wicky turned back to the criminal she had been facing, in time to easily dodge again. "God, I hope you are sterile. Stupidity might be genetic..." she yelled aloud, "Not that we have anything to worry about! Everyone_**knows**_ that the only women you have **been with** have had to be _**paid**_ first!"

The rest of her group ooh'd and aah'd. The rest of the prisoners laughed shamelessly.

He lost his temper and lunged once more with his fist. "I'm going to kill you, stupid bit—CHAAH?!"

For once, she hadn't dodged. She had grabbed his arm, and had flipped him over her shoulder in one fluid, practised motion. He had been too frustrated to notice she had been close enough to the edge, but mostly he hadn't been expecting her to be strong and gutsy enough to attempt to divert **him**(dwarfing her in size)... over the edge. Everyone watched interestedly at the screaming man falling deep down into the dark pit. They knew he had hit something when he stopped screaming.

As soon as that happened, she dusted off her dark blue dress, and her voice lazily called out, "What's the verdict?"

Everyone seemed to agree that she was the winner, and with that over with, she returned to her side of the field.

"Wicky, that was cool!"

"That was dangerous! What if he hit you, Wicky?"

"But it was still cool, old man."

"I'm not an old man, punk!"

"Ah, thanks everyone, and Leorio, for your concern!" She cut in, afraid they would fight, but eyeing them with amusement. "I'm sorry for taking up time. I wanted to get him angry enough to lose all inhibition for a moment. I might have hurt my hand punching his thick skull..."

"Judging by how he's dead right now—it worked." Kurapika eyed her carefully. _She managed her fight without giving us an idea of what skill level she's at._

A rather thin and weak looking man had walked out onto the arena floor.

"Who's going next?"

"I'll go!" Gon shouted, raising a hand straight up in the air.

Killua stepped up to Gon and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Good luck, Gon."

Gon thanked Wicky and walked onto the arena floor. The challenge was something of a mind game, or a game of chance. The candle that goes out first is the loser. The majority rule was used to pick the candle.

"Gon! You choose! We'll go with whatever you pick!" Kurapika yelled, solving the problem quickly, "We trust your instinct!"

Wicky nodded. _Smart, Kurapika!_

"Alright! I choose the long one!" Gon said confidently. "It's longer, so it'll take longer to burn out"

Everyone's sweat dropped, as they realized that he hadn't thought much about it. _Oh, well._ They gave in, and voted for the longer candle with their watches. The two 'fighters' lit their candles at the same time. Nothing... really interesting happened at first.

"How long does a candle take to burn out?" Killua asked Kurapika.

"Five or six hours, probably." Kurapika muttered.

"There's a strong wind blowing on the ground. Probably shouldn't make any sudden moves, or even any at all." Leorio advised.

Suddenly, Gon's candle started burning at a much faster pace. It was unnatural. Then it dawned on everyone what had happened—Gon's opponent had done something to his candle. Upon voicing this accusation, the thin prisoner explained that he had done it to both candles, and actually had four candles. Gon panicked as his candle was almost out, but came up with a brilliant solution! And it didn't break any rules, because everything was allowed! He set his candle down on the floor and ran up to his opponent. Grinning, he blew out the cheap man's flame.

"Huzzah, Gon!" Wicky cheered, though her movements still seemed rather... not as enthusiastic as such a statement would suggest. Everyone would figure that she was just lazy.

"Good job, Gon! That was great! We only need at least one more victory!"

Gon laughed happily, as he walked back to his companions. Well, now it was time for the next match. Who would be up next?

Kurapika heaved a sigh and prepared himself. "Well, it's my turn."

His opponent's shackles dropped to the floor, and a dramatic flurry of cloth, his identity was revealed. Everyone was at least a little bit startled. Wow, was this guy some ugly motherfucker or what... Er... Well, he was... He had stitches here and there, his head was malformed, his nose was missing, his skin seemed to be... Just think of Frankenstein as a serial killer, and that's what he looked like. Anyway, he attempted to psych Kurapika out first. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Let's suppose that you fall during the fight... I can't guarantee you that I'll stop hitting!" He looked—negatively—gleeful.

Wicky was staring at her watch intently, trying not to think of how much uglier he'd get after being beaten to the ground by Kurapika.

"Okay. Fine with me." Kurapika blinked, as if he was dealing with a child. He took off his blue vest

"Wait! I forgot something! We can't use weapons. It's hand-to-hand combat. Even if we are members of the jury, we aren't allowed to use weapons." He rationalized.

"I see..." Kurapika discarded his swords, as well as his knives, daggers, and other painful-looking implements. "Anything else? Because if not, I'd like to start."

"Huh? Hmm... Yes." He proceeded to look visibly scary.

On the sidelines, Leorio looked concerned. Kurapika was considered his friend, and so going against such a scary man would concern him. It was understandable. It was too bad that he couldn't sense what the rest of his companions were sensing. Leorio had always been a suspicious and sceptical man, so it can be said that he was sceptical of Kurapika's chances of winning.

"How do you feel about Kurapika? He should really mistrust his opponent." He said uneasily.

They gave the question some thought. Killua was thinking incredulously, _Kurapika, in danger? It's clear to me that this guy can't even hit so much as kill him. He's an impostor._

"Have faith in Kurapika." Wicky attempted to soothe his nerves, but her lazy countenance didn't help much.

"Well, yeah, but..."

Gon piped up, "In my mind, we don't have to worry. When I look at him, I don't have any _palpitation_."

"So what?" Leorio blankly stared.

Killua glanced at Gon, impressed by his perception of things. _He bases his judgement on instinct. He's an interesting guy, it's true._ Suddenly, they were startled as Kurapika's opponent jumped high up into the air with a loud battle cry. Kurapika dodged it, but the fact that the prisoner's fist messed up the ground like a miniature meteor was surprising. Then, the man's back was exposed.

"A tattoo resembling a spider with twelve legs?" Leorio gasped. "It can't be..."

"... The sign of the Phantom Brigade?" Wicky finished in a loud whisper. _That can't be right. Last time I checked..._

Gon's jaw dropped, and he turned to Wicky. "Is that true?"

Wicky's eyes narrowed in thought. "Well, the tattoo is similar, but... That man's tattoo is off. Plus, I highly doubt that someone in that group would be contained in jail."

Leorio suddenly was aware of something, and mentioned in a low voice, "This will get ugly. Kurapika hates the Phantom Brigade with all his soul, and for him to play an impostor like that..."

As the prisoner basically told Kurapika to quit while he still had the chance, Kurapika was looking seriously ready to kill him. He stopped in mid-sentence as he_felt_ the waves of killer intent rolling off of Kurapika. It shook him to the core. He shakily demanded an explanation for Kurapika's glowing red eyes. Before he knew it, his face was close to being crushed in Kurapika's hand, and he was being lifted up into the air. Like an oversized rag doll, the ugly and bulky man's face was slammed into the ground.

Wicky stared passively at the fight, but inwardly was pleased to see the prisoner paying for his stupidity.

Gon and Leorio were somewhat shocked at the level of violence Kurapika had displayed. Even if they knew of the hatred beforehand, it was still shocking to see polite and nice Kurapika act that way.

Killua looked impressed, judging by his whistle.

"Three." Kurapika said in a dangerous tone. "Three advices. One, the member's number is written in the center of the spider. Two, they've already killed so much that it's impossible to count. Three, don't**ever** usurp the name of the brigade again... because next time, I won't hesitate to kill you!"

-

"Let's bet on my sex: male, or female?"

"What?" He exclaimed, shocked. Then, hiding his nervousness, he continued normally, "I'm okay with this, but if I fail, how will you prove it to me?"

"With my body. You're free to auscultate me to find the answer."

Leorio's companions could feel the doom descending upon them, as they could easily predict what he would pick.

Kurapika blandly predicted, "Leorio's going to bet it's a male."

"Yes." Killua agreed.

"What?" Gon cluelessly asked.

"He better hope he doesn't..." Wicky sang airily, her mischievous side appearing in an implied threat that hung in the air, causing the other males around her to shuffle subtly away from her. _What kind of female wanting to be a hunter wouldn't be pissed off because a man is hindering her progress because of his perversion?! _Her anger can be seen as justified in this case.

"I bet 10 hours you're male!" Leorio proclaimed boldly.

_Oh no! _Every male around the one P.O.'d female thought in dread.

"There we are." Kurapika sighed grimly, all the while glancing nervously to Wicky.

"Such a pervert." Killua gloomily said. "Wicky will kill him."

"How d'you know he's a pervert?" Gon asked, and Killua explained why.

She heard this, but was too busy glaring a hole through Leorio's neck to care. It was sort of true that she'd grill him for it, anyway. _It's not because he's a pervert that this bothers me. It's that if he loses, then I won't be able to forget that he so easily lost a chance to win lots of hours here. We'll have lost so many hours because he had to be a pervert, and lose focus. :[_

"I'll kill him if he loses." She decided after a while, visibly calming herself down, which surprised everyone there. "If he wins, **it won't be so bad**..." She trailed off, not elaborating on what she meant by that. Her eyes were normal again as she relaxed.

"Sorry, but I'm a female."

"S- seriously?!"

"You wanna check?"

"For... for sure!!" And Leorio's hands roamed to the prisoner's—

Wicky folded her arms over her chest and leaned against a wall, eyes closed. Needless to say, henceforth, Leorio lost badly. The official score ran even, both sides having two points each. However, now they owed 50 hours. The deciding factor would be...

"Well, I'm the only one left. My turn." Killua said, walking unhurriedly forward.

His opponent was already there, and unmasked. Leorio gasped. Gon gulped as he saw the look in the last unmasked challenger's eyes.

"You... You know him?" Gon asked Leorio.

Instead of answering, Leorio's head snapped to face Killua's. "Killua! Forget about the victory..." Here, Gon attempted to say something in the other boy's defence. "But don't fight against him!" He proceeded to explain who Killua's opponent was. _Jones the Cutter. Big serial killer. Insane._ "You don't have to fight against such a monster. After all..."

Killua raised his hand and waved as he kept walking forward, not looking back.

Wicky's green eyes caught the light, and if anyone had watched, they would have seen a determined glint in her eyes as she watched him go.

"How will we fight?" Killua asked indifferently.

"Fight? I don't think you understand." The dangerous serial killer chuckled. "It will be a one-way massacre! I don't care about this exam, all I want is to touch flesh... You just should just be concerned with crying, and shouting. That will be enough."

"OK." Killua confirmed. "You think it's better dying than losing, don't you?"

"Yes. And you're going to—"

The vision of Killua's body blurred, and he simply disappeared. He seemed to reappear behind Jones the Cutter, holding the serial killer's heart in his hands. Surprised, Jones turned to look at who killed him... reaching his hand out futilely.

"Give... me..."

Killua only gave a cold smile. His hand, holding the heart, closed rapidly and shred the heart into unsalvageable pieces. Everyone was shocked and/or horrified.

"There. Three to two. With this we can go now, right?"

-

Wicky watched as everyone settled down to wait for 50 hours to pass. Perhaps she'd take a nap... Nah... She took forever to wake up. Who knows when she would need to be awake to fight? She yawned, eyes half-lidded as always, and then looked around in hopes of finding something to do.

She could meditate, and search for her other pieces of soul. How many had she found, so far? One? Sure, she had the Hunter's exam that took up a lot of her attention, but her ambition took precedence. It'd be bad to forget why she was doing the Hunter's exam. However, even if she wanted to meditate, that usually took a while for recovery time. So... no.

It was going to be a very boring 50 hours...

-

Luckily, they had chosen to go **down** the stairs when they first set out, because that saved themselves a half hour of trouble. Not that they'd know that, of course. But then they had to go through several other things, using the Majority Rule. Electric quiz. Multiple choice labyrinth. Gigantic board games. Mine camps. They made it through it all. But not without a scratch. Everyone looked a little bit fried by the time they made it to the exit.

"Ouch. Wow. Good thing I brought lots of bandages..." Wicky mumbled. "Is everyone okay?"

Everyone answered positively, more or less.

The exit was actually two separate doors, and over them was a statue in the shape of a woman. In between the doors was a screen that said "Last Junction. Now is the time for your last choice. Are you ready to be acknowledged of it?"

After everyone voted yes, a speaker in the mouth of the statue crackled to life. "**Well choose one of the two doors.****The first allows five people to go but is long and difficult. The second allows only three people, but is short and easy.****Concretely, it is impossible, even hurrying, to exit the first road in less than 45 hours. Taking the second one, you reach the end in less than 3 minutes. Push on O for the long and difficult way. Push on X for the short and easy way."**

Everyone was perplexed. No one wanted to give themselves up. No one wanted to fight to be one of the three that goes on. But the statue said it was impossible to get through the long and difficult way in the time they had.

Leorio spoke carefully, voice laced with guilt. "I'm going to press X. No matter what, I am going to be one of the three who continue." He eyed the weapons all around them. "They have weapons gathered here from all ages and places. Does that mean they want us to choose by fighting?"

"I'm going to choose O." Gon firmly said. "We came here all together, so I want us to leave all together."

Wicky stared unsurely at Gon. _I want to believe that, Gon... But..._ She also noted that this was another reason why she had at first tried to avoid socializing with people in this exam.

"Even if that's risky... my choice will be the same." Gon finished.

_My heart hurts_...

Killua tried to reason with Gon. "That's not only risky, it's impossible. We only have an hour and 20 minutes. We have no other choice but the short way. Obviously, I count on being one who'll pass. Since no one is going to give up, I see the only solution as combat."

_Every time I think about fighting these people, a whirlwind of emotion makes me dizzy... I don't think I have it in me to fight them._

"No... I can't accept that..."

Everyone turned to Wicky, who explained herself. "I'm pressing O... There has to be another way out... We just haven't thought of it, yet! Let's think of possibilities, first!"

Leorio yelled, "But we only have two choices! One of them is impossible to make it in time. At least the short and easy way will have some of us pass!"

"There was a time that I would have been willing to fight all of you, but I can't! I won't!" She uncharacteristically snapped back, then calmed down a bit and shakily said, "Just—just think about it. If there's no way, then you make a way! We'll find one."

_Argh! I'm feeling dizzy again... It hurts..._

"I got it!!" Gon yelled.

Everyone turned toward the young black-haired boy, who told them all that he had an idea, and that they'd have to trust him.

-

They came barrelling across the finish line—the end, that is. Everyone but Wicky arrived, on a skateboard, rolling onto the bottom floor. That's because Wicky had her own way of getting there fast. Anyway, they all brushed themselves off and made it safely through the door. Wicky smoothly rolled up after everyone, having used the blades that hid in the bottom of her shoes..

She snickered, hiding her mouth behind a hand, but her glimmering eyes telling all. "Did you all have fun?"

"It was fun! Let's do that again sometime!" Gon.

"Yeah! But it's too bad you couldn't have joined in on the fun!" Killua, suggesting that she should have helped. She smirked, and then hummed innocently.

Kurapika rubbed his hands, mock-glaring at her for laughing. "It was certainly a faster way of getting here. But my hands will be sore for a while."

Leorio grumbled.

-

There were two rounds left. The second last round would start at Zebiru island. Right now, they were on a boat. Killua had managed to find Gon earlier, but was searching for where the others went. It'd be two hours until they made it to Zebiru island. If he couldn't find them, he'd be content to just use his skateboard a bit.

He looked up. What was...? Coming down pretty fast... He spread his arms out to catch it. It was a person, apparently. Black roots to green tips, pale skin, closed eyes, dark blue dress... Looks familiar. Wait a tic, that was Wicky! She fell from up there, so probably from—_the roof?_ She looked dizzy and sick.

"What the hell were you doing up there?"

Unfocused green eyes gazed into his eyes. She mumbled something inaudible, cheeks tinging slightly pink, and he told her to speak up. She blinked a few times, before she seemed to black out.

_Great. Now what do I do? _He thought. _I'll set her down somewhere... like here. _He randomly picked a place against a wall. As soon as he had set her down, she jolted awake. She panicked sleepily, looking around. _Wow. That was a very short blackout._

"Damn. It was hard to control that fluctuation..." She muttered.

"Fluctuation?"

She blinked up at Killua. "Um... You helped me?" He nodded. "Ah. Thanks. I struggle with blackouts occasionally, because of my ailment. I'm not quite sure, but something in my mind starts hurting—fluctuating—and I lose consciousness. They're not so often anymore."

"What the hell made you decide to go on the roof?" He looked at her like she was crazy.

"I was... looking for someone." She averted her gaze to the side, flushing slightly. "The person I have to get the number from. You didn't get my number, did you?" She looked at him curiously.

"No." He answered truthfully. "And you?"

"No, not yours. I'm pretty sure I'm stealing the number off some old guy..."

_Maybe Wicky will know who my number is,_ Killua thought. It was worth a shot, anyway.

Killua casually asked, "Hey, what's your number, Wicky?"

An eyebrow raised over her lazy eye, she asked in return, "You'll tell me yours, too?"

"Sure."

She showed him her card, which said 384. He showed her his, 199.

Wicky's face scrunched up in thought until she snapped her fingers. "Those three brothers? I know Imori has number 198, and they arrived at the same time..." She'd recognized the brothers from last year's exam, and so she noticed their numbers easily this time around. "That could be lucky or unlucky when you face one of them. The brothers are always together." She nodded sharply, her hair falling into her face, making her look cute instead of serious. She blew on the locks in her face irritably. _I'm trying to look professional and dangerous, but my hair doesn't agree with me! Grr!_

"You knew?! That's great. Thanks, Wicky! You saved me the trouble of randomly searching. That would've been annoying." He grinned, ruffling her chin-length hair more than it already was with one hand.

She huffed angrily in jest, but it was ruined by her smile. "No problem! Don't suppose you know mine, too?"

"That guy with the dark complexion, Ge..."

"Oh, Gereta?" She guessed. "I remember him, now."

"That's him. He's not some old man, though." He pointed out.

She coughed, flushing pink. "I didn't say I knew for sure..."

"Sure you didn't." He teased.

"I didn't! But thanks, Killua." She gave him a friendly, loose, one-armed hug to accentuate her gratitude toward him before standing up shakily and running off. "I'm going to go spy on him! See you later!"

He stared after her with an odd expression. "Later."

Then he realized why it felt weird. _That's the first time a female outside my family has hugged me!_ And the only female inside his family is his mother... Killua then added, _that's kind of sad._ And went on with his life.

-

_This was finished in October, too! Wow.  
You may be thinking that this is a Mary Sue Story (M.S.S.) ...  
Really, it is. So feel happy that you're right.  
I enjoyed writing this, admittedly. I also put a lot of thought into it  
Or at least, I think I did.  
There's no doubt that there'll be romance later on.  
And if you don't like that kind of stuff... Well... Hmm...  
Read it! Don't like it? Criticize it:D Please.  
_... In my point of view, I'm not a masochist..._  
In any case, I thank you for your attention.  
_  
Darkwick,  
OCT 2007


End file.
